Rating: 
Summary: Chasing Neil Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, and the Gregs
Review: A profusion of highly inventive ideas in the same hyperintelligent vein of Stephenson, Sterling, Egan, and Bear. Not yet as humorous as Sterling or Stephenson or as edgy as Egan and Bear, but this first novel actually has a better ending than many of these modern masters seem to be able to muster (much better than Stephenson's first outings).Yes, there are some some very soft spots in the plot; yes, the choppy relativistic time frame makes it hard to develop and relate to characters, but the underlying theme and global plot development is excellent--well worth the 10 hours it may take to read. If his editors and publisher give him time to refine and tweak the next plot (and solicit some smart readers to help out) then we may have a classic. I have not yet read Chasm City yet. Fingers crossed. There goes a research career for a promising astrophysicist. Clone him quick.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard SF at its Best.
Review: Some of the best and the hardest science-fiction at the moment is coming out of Britain (Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod, Peter F. Hamilton etc.) and Alastair Reynolds is right up there with them. This, is the first novel in what looks like being an almost Xeelee-esque sequence of novels (continued in Chasm City, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap (forthcoming)) lots of hard-science, mysterious aliens etc. This story starts out as as an archeological novel but rapidly turns into something else as assassins and the crew of a derelict space craft become more and more involved in the ultimate question; where are the aliens? This exploration of the Fermi Paradox treads on familiar territory to anyone who has read any of Stephen Baxter's recent works and comes up with a new and wholly satisfying answer. It also blows the door wide open for it's sequels. If you like superior space opera and can cope with the jargon and the science give it a whirl.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the hype. This book doesn't deserve it.
Review: Revelation space could have told a wonderful story. I don't care how implausible it is, or about the problems with some of the book's basic premises, all in all, there were some great ideas in here. Unfortunately Reynolds falls way short of the hype concerning both him and the book. Far from a new Science-Fiction genius, he is... As we all have learned the hard way, great ideas do not a great story make. Anyone can come up with plenty of interesting ideas upon which to base a plot, only a very few authors manage to squeak something interesting out of them. Reynolds has not yet shown this ability. Reynolds has a lot to learn about telling a story. For starters, I felt no emphathy, or even mild ambivelance to any of the characters. Who is the protagonist? Sylveste? His father? Are they the good guys, the antagonists or anti-heroes? Are the good guys the crew of the light huggers? How come such a complex ship is run by only six people? Then why do you need them altogether? Why was this book so long?
I can really go on and on like this for hours, but that would be boring. Reynolds has made many of the same errors that new authors make. [Most were probably at the urging of his publisher...] He mistakes details with plot. He thinks that a complex story is a compelling story. He thinks that cool technology can take the place of cool characters. To be fair, the story has an excellent ending, but it is not worth the trip. I'd also give Reynolds good marks for at least trying to avoid information dumps. He doesn't always succeed. Don't believe the hype. Don't waste your time reading it. 80% of this book is only barely tangential to the story.
Rating:
Summary: A Solid Piece of Sci-Fi
Review: A complex world with lots of promise. The technology and dialog are a real treat. It's about time someone took science fiction seriously for a change.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Perhaps the cover text about "Best Sci-Fi of the Year" raised my expectations too high, but I was disappointed in this book. Although it has some interesting devices and some reasonably plausible science, the characters and their interaction with each other and their world simply wasn't compelling. There's no real hero; maybe an anti-hero. In addition, the "epic" plot line taking place over centuries merely serves to confuse and to rip you from one locale you're just starting to be interested in to the next, 50 -100 years later. As a measuring stick, I'd give Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn (The Reality Dysfunction) series five stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Moody and surreal post-cyberpunk space opera
Review: If Arthur C. Clarke and Bruce Sterling were forced to collaborate while locked in an ill-lit Gothic cathedral, "Relelation Space," Alastair Reynolds' first novel, just might be the result. "Revelation Space" is a big, gripping novel that bristles with feverish detail, lavish alien settings, and an arsenal of ingenius Big Ideas. Reynolds' highly stylized cosmological detective story is conceptually fascinating and becomingly moody; the author whisks readers from the ruinous, "Blade Runner"-like urban wilderness of Chasm City to the vertiginous, rat-infested corridors of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity, revealing a future history as interesting and plausible as that of Ken MacLeod ("The Stone Canal," "The Cassini Division") and Peter F. Hamilton's sprawling Night's Dawn sequence ("The Reality Dysfunction," "The Neutronium Alchemist," "The Naked God"). Reynolds' novel is weighed down by some ponderous factional infighting (however sleekly integrated), and the characters never manage to achieve the sort of full-bodied "Turing compliance" possessed by the artificial intelligences that populate his story. Nevertheless, "Revelation Space" succeeds. Sophisticated and gritty, Reynolds' vision of a not-too-implausible far-future is an excellent effort that infuses "space opera" with the reckless surrealism of vintage cyberpunk.
Rating:
Summary: Fizzled towards the end
Review: The good part of the book was that it is unpredictable, mysterious, and a bit suspenseful at times. However, this cannot overcome the lack of character development. The author could have killed off any character in the book at any time, and I couldn't have cared less. I was a bit bored by the end, and only stuck with it to see where the author was going. A large part of the book deals with people converted in AI on machines. However, the author made little attempt to make these AI personalities seem like "Real Life". I would recommend Tad William's Otherworld for a better treatment of the subject.
Rating:
Summary: A good read with lots of interesting ideas to explore.
Review: Lots of really neat ideas about AIs viruses attacking people's implants. Some really neat aliens lurking about in computers posing dater to people who link to those systems and their software "personas".
Rating:
Summary: Good First Sci-fi Novel
Review: Reynold's Revelation Space was an interesting story on the way humanity began to evole into a different species through the use of science, though his claim that culture not nature as a vehicle for evolution was unconvincing.
What I did enjoy was the scope of the plot of his novel that remind me of Isaac Asimnov's "The Foundation Trilogy" or Robert Blumetti's "Ironstorm." The galactic scope of the story was well done and believible soaring across time and space. If you like to read complex stories then I recormend Revelation Space.
Rating:
Summary: A great sci fi read.
Review: Other reviewers have more thoroughly explained the premise of the story, I will only add that I thoroughly enjoyed the tone of this book. I wish someone would make sci-fi movies that feel like this book does. Instead we get shallow action romps that always involve a monster loose aboard a ship...
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